ATLANTA - The Latest on a church service and march in Atlanta marking the 50th anniversary of the funeral of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. (all times local):

5:30 p.m.

Rapper T.I. calls marching in honour of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. a "blessing."

The Grammy-winning rapper was among the thousands to join King's relatives, including daughter the Rev. Bernice King and son Martin Luther King III, in an Atlanta march Monday.

He says it was important for him to attend the march from Ebenezer Baptist Church because King "blazed a trail for us to have liberty and freedom, and all the luxuries we enjoy today."

T.I. hopes the new generation can follow in King's footsteps to initiate change for social injustice in the black community. The rapper has taken part in a march in Atlanta against police-involved shooting deaths of African-Americans and an anti-Trump protest in New York.

T.I. also helped boycott an Atlanta restaurant chain after it was accused discrimination against black customers.

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4:30 p.m.

A Los Angeles man rode a bus for 55 hours just to attend an Atlanta rally commemorating the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

Bill Watkins says he felt compelled to make trip for the first time in support of the King family and the civil rights movement. The 45-year-old Watkins marched alongside more than 1,000 people from Ebenezer Baptist Church to the Georgia state capitol on Monday.

He says the march was "all about telling the truth and honouring a man who stood in love."

Watkins stood with 24-year-old North Carolina native Terence Coleman and 21-year-old Georgia State student Amanda Bernall holding up an American flag with an image of King's face and the words "A lie cannot live" written across it.

Coleman says he's biracial and hopes the rally helps bring racial issues to the attention of more people.

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2 p.m.

The march marking the 50th anniversary of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination concluded in front of the civil right leader's statue for a rally at the Georgia state capitol.

More than 1,000 marchers that included King's relatives were greeted by the Martin Luther King Jr. High School marching band upon their arrival Monday afternoon. The ceremony dubbed as the "Love for Humanity Rally" involved several speakers including Rev. Al Sharpton and Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal.

The rally also had a number of performances including the Clark Atlanta and Morehouse choirs.

The march covered just more than 1 mile (1.6 kilometres) from the Ebenezer Baptist Church led by Rev. Bernice King and her brother, Martin Luther King III.

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1:10 p.m.

Relatives of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. are leading a march through downtown Atlanta, marking the 50th anniversary of their father's hometown funeral procession.

More than 1,000 people joined the Rev. Bernice King and her brother, Martin Luther King III, as they locked arms Monday for a march from Ebenezer Baptist Church to the grounds of the Georgia state capitol. Accompanying them at the front of the procession was the slain civil rights leader's granddaughter, Yolanda Renee King.

Many in the crowd sang the spiritual "This Little Light of Mine."

King was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968. Five days later, thousands crowded the streets of Atlanta as a mule-drawn wagon pulled King's casket from a private funeral at Ebenezer to a public memorial at Morehouse College.

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1 p.m.

Speakers at a church service marking the 50th anniversary of funeral services for the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. include a survivor of the deadly school shooting in Parkland Florida.

Jaclyn Corin was introduced to the crowd at Ebenezer Baptist Church on Monday by Yolanda Renee King, the slain civil rights leader's granddaughter.

Corin is a student who survived the February shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School that killed 17 people. She told those gathered at King's former church Monday: "There's injustices on our streets. Young people have changed things in the past and we're going to do it again."

Two funeral services for King were held in Atlanta on April 9, 1968 — five days after King was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee.

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11:45 a.m.

A woman who sang at the funeral of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968 has reprised the mournful hymn five decades later.

Mary Gurley took the podium at Ebenezer Baptist Church for a solo performance of "My Heavenly Father" during a service Monday marking the 50th anniversary of King's funeral services in Atlanta.

Gurley said before she began singing: "This is for you, M.L. This was our theme song."

Gurley was a young choir member at Ebenezer when she sang the same hymn during King's funeral on April 9, 1968. The civil rights leader had been assassinated five days earlier in Memphis, Tennessee.

Following the church service Monday, hundreds were expected to participate in a march to the Georgia state capitol.

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11:20 a.m.

One of Martin Luther King Jr.'s top lieutenants says the slain civil rights leader remains "very much alive" in spirit.

Andrew Young spoke Monday morning during a church service at Ebenezer Baptist Church, where King's funeral was held 50 years ago after the civil rights leader was slain in Memphis, Tennessee. Young went on to become Atlanta's mayor and a U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

Young told the crowd that King, "in spite of all the problems we have, continues to rein among us calling on us to do better and be the best that we can be."

The service will be followed by a March for Humanity to the Georgia state capitol in downtown Atlanta. Hundreds were expected to participate.

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11 a.m.

Former U.S. Ambassador Andrew Young and comedian Chris Tucker are among a crowd filling pews at an Atlanta church to mark the 50th anniversary of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s funeral.

The service Monday is being held at Ebenezer Baptist Church, where King used to preach. The service will be followed by a March for Humanity to the Georgia state capitol in downtown Atlanta. The Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Change said it expects hundreds to participate.

The events follow a host of tributes across the U.S. last week to remember the 50th anniversary of King's assassination. The civil rights leader was fatally shot in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968.

Two funeral services for King were held in Atlanta five days later on April 9, 1968.

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9:15 a.m.

A march from the Atlanta church where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. once preached is planned to mark the 50th anniversary of King's funeral.

Organizers say they expect hundreds of people to participate in the March for Humanity.

The Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change says the march will begin at the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church and continue to Liberty Plaza on the state capitol grounds. It will end with a tribute to King's legacy.

Funeral services for King were held in Atlanta on April 9, 1968, after the civil rights leader was killed in Memphis on April 4, 1968.

News from © The Associated Press, 2018